my friend Carroll

A new mid-century portrait has joined my collection, and it's of someone who was actually quite dear to me! When I was 10 years old, I played Annie in the musical Annie. The man who played Daddy Warbucks was a really sweet older gentleman named Carroll. I loved Mr. Carroll and he was always very kind to me:) He even bought me and my husband a wedding present when we got married, even though he was a widower and getting on in years at the time. He passed away last year, and his estate was recently sold.

My precious Aunt Becky and Uncle Mike went to the sale and bought me the most amazing gift: a portrait that was painted of Mr. Carroll when he was about 18 years old. Isn't that just the most perfect gift? I'd love it even if I had no idea who it was a portrait of, but the fact that it's of someone I knew and cared about makes it so special:)

They also got me several theater posters from plays that he either directed or acted in, most of which were signed by the cast and crew. It's so fun reading what people wrote on them! Thank you again, Aunt B and Uncle Mike, for the incredibly thoughtful gifts! I love ya'll!

Speaking of the guest bedroom, I've just about finished my credenza that I made for free using pallets. I'm still working on making a sketch with the dimensions so you guys can make one of your own!

My favorite part is the mason jar knobs.

And last but not least, a quick shout-out to some recent visitors:) Danica and her hubby Jason stopped by our place last weekend during their Comic Con trip.

And my husband's little sister Giselle and two of her sorority sisters spent a full week with us earlier in the month, and I had so much fun showing them the sights of SoCal:)

Happy weekend, everyone!

I'm back with a few wedding pictures!

An adorable couple who just happen to be my parents-in-law:) I did her hair and make-up!

Me dancing with the handsome groom, Matt:)

I reactivated my husband's old Facebook just long enough to steal all these pictures from Michelle, then I deactivated it again, ha! Thanks, Michelle;)

 The whole ginormous family!

And now for some random updates ...

I got a new 20th century portrait for my collection a few weeks ago. Isn't he awesome? I love his glasses.

And my friend Zoe noticed how much I love black and white sketches, so when I told her that I'd love to own some of her art, she was kind enough to give me this gorgeous sketch of the woman in the evening gown:) Thanks, Zoe!

Whenever I have a bunch of random stuff I want to display, but there's no rhyme or reason to it, I just throw it all on a tray and suddenly it looks like a collection!

This picture is here for two reasons. One: because I upgraded my compost to an actual compost container instead of the gallon water jug I'd been using.

This cute white container came from World Market, and it has this charcoal filter thing on the top that seems to really help keep the bad smell at bay.

And the second reason for the picture? Because it has my little birthday girl in it! Jemima is 4 years old today:) Happy birthday, Jemima! I love everything about you!

Even your underbite.

playing "Tennessee" by Marcel on repeat

We just returned last night from a whirlwind trip to my husband's hometown in Tennessee. His little sister got married on Saturday, and we decided to make a whole vacation out of it! We flew in to the Nashville airport last Thursday night, where my grandmother (Neenah) and step-grandfather (Daddy Jim) picked us up.

 They took us to a delicious italian restaurant for dinner, and then we stopped by the gorgeous Union Station hotel.

 It was breathtaking!

We spent the night with them at their home in Alabama, then after breakfast we headed up to spend the rest of the trip with hubby's side of the family. It was so much fun!

We took our nephew Max to feed the ducks and geese. 

My sister-in-law Michelle and I taught him to do a pretty good goose impression.

I always forget how humid it gets in the southern heat! It was actually kind of refreshing, even though I look like a sweaty mess in all these pictures. In the one below it looks like I'm trying to cool off my underarms. Ha!

I loved being able to hang out with my husband's awesome brother Philippe. He's so much fun to be around!

And even though I'd already been to my husband's old high school, I had him take me back so I could force him into posing for pictures like this one ...

And this one below, which I took at his elementary school. It's a re-creation of one of my favorite childhood pictures of him, which was taken at the same school:)

Say it with me now .... awwwwwww!

There's a LOT more about the trip I can't wait to share, like pictures from his sister's wedding and all about how we scavenged through abandoned warehouses, but that will have to wait for another post. Check back soon!

1 dress + 2 sisters = craftiness

A while back my sister and I came up with a fun idea for a crafty project we could do together, even though we live on opposite coasts! My mother no longer wanted this pretty floral maxi dress, so we decided to cut it in half, right up the middle, and not tell each other what we were making with our half until the projects were completed!

Jemima used to have an adorable little shabby chic bed, but after she totally ignored it for about 2 years straight, we finally gave it away. Naturally, she soon after started wanting a bed of her very own, and began curling up into small, dog-bed-esque things like this box top, as if she were a poor, neglected, bed-less creature that just had to do the best she could with whatever she could find.

I remembered seeing this vintage suitcase dog bed over at Houzz, but I didn't think Jemima would like it being elevated, and I couldn't bring myself to disassemble and drill holes in a vintage suitcase, so I decided to make a simpler, power tool-free version.

I already had this guy re-lined and cleaned up at home, so I decided to use it for my doggy bed. Click here to see the before pictures!

Before I started working on the bed, I threw the fabric inside the suitcase and patted it so Jemima could try it out. I figured I'd see if she'd even sleep in it before I went to the trouble of making it.

Sure enough, she hopped right in and slept for over 2 hours, only moving to switch positions! She just loves tight spaces.

When she finally woke up, I spread the fabric out to start cutting. As you can see in the photo above, she was still a little groggy from her nap.

First I made a little pleated skirt that was long enough to cover three sides of the suitcase. I was determined to make this a no-sew project, so I just pinned the pleats in place, secured them with hot glue, then removed the pins.

Then I glued the pleated skirt to a square of fabric big enough to cover the bottom of the case.

She seems to prefer sleeping on mostly hard surfaces, so I went very light on the fluff.

I covered the fluff in a square of felt.

Next I glued down the top square of fabric. Obviously substituting hot glue for sewing isn't going to make for the most long-lasting cushion in the world, but I figure since she's so tiny it should hold up pretty well, and by the time it starts falling apart it will probably be dirty enough to need to be replaced anyway. 

I used a shoulder strap from the dress to spell out her name on the top. I pinned the strap down to make sure I had it centered properly, then hot-glued it in place and removed the pins.

I was going to glue a square of ribbon around the center where the square meets the pleated skirt, but I decided against it because all the ribbon I had on hand was too wide.

She likes to take her naps at the bottom of the stairs, so that's where I put her new bed. She loves it!

I'll let Lizzie do the talking on her blog when it comes to the details of her project, but I don't think she'll mind me spilling the beans and telling you all that she made an ADORABLE little stuffed elephant for our niece that is expected to arrive at the end of June:)  Lizzie is far, far more accomplished at sewing than her big sister! She also made a precious little blue and white striped elephant for our nephew Connor.

And speaking of Connor, look who came to see me last Thursday:) More on that later!

pictures galore (as promised)

I'm back home in San Diego after a whirlwind week in the southland! I'm very happy to be reunited with my handsome hubby and my cuddly doggy, but I sure do miss my family! Here are a few random pictures I snapped over the past few days:

my brothers grilling out.

my brother Daniel hanging out on the back patio.

me and my mama:)

my little sister, Lizzie - we had a photo shoot!

she's so pretty:)

Lizzie's dog (and my nephew), Buddy.

As I mentioned before, I brought the "fancy" camera home for the wedding, and while I was home I took about a billion pictures of my home, sweet home in Mississippi:) I only had time to take pictures of the outside and downstairs, with the exception of a few pictures (like the one above) that I snapped of my bedroom. I'll be back with a pretty funny post about my bedroom later, but for now, get ready for an assault of pictures of my parent's house, including some from our wedding!

click here for the tour...

... then come back here for comments because there's no comment form on the tour page!